Despite the seemingly low rating, this is a movie well worth seeing. It's just that compared to really great movies, this falls somewhere around the middle point of the scoring system.
For this is a teeny tiny movie made with a big heart. It suffers from budget restrictions, having obvious problems with the sound mixing and an image quality that seems to have a "filter" over it. But the director shows real talent in choosing less than ordinary angles (well-framed in Scope) and excelling in storytelling.
Two reasons why this is an important movie. First, its setting allows us a peek into a corner of the world seldomly visited. Movie takes place in The Republic of Saha in Siberia, mostly populated by Yakuts. The dialogue is also in Yakut (not Russian). The characters live in a small village in the middle of nowhere, where living conditions are harsh. It's the middle of the long winter, and the son of the protagonist Ignat drunkenly runs a tractor over their neighbour's son. A simple, straigh-forward story follows, including Ignat saving a school kid from an alcoholistic mother in an attempt to fill the void left by the imprisoned son.
You might think that this is depressing stuff, but the tone of the film is very naturalistic and lived-in, true to life. That's the second reason: The Bonfire is sincere. Often it's almost documentary-like. Sure, the story is very sad, but the director avoids melodrama and has a very natural approach to the characters played by actors of the local (amateur?) theatre with great conviction.
The Bonfire deserves its place alongside "bigger" movies, and it and the people it shows us deserve recognition.
For this is a teeny tiny movie made with a big heart. It suffers from budget restrictions, having obvious problems with the sound mixing and an image quality that seems to have a "filter" over it. But the director shows real talent in choosing less than ordinary angles (well-framed in Scope) and excelling in storytelling.
Two reasons why this is an important movie. First, its setting allows us a peek into a corner of the world seldomly visited. Movie takes place in The Republic of Saha in Siberia, mostly populated by Yakuts. The dialogue is also in Yakut (not Russian). The characters live in a small village in the middle of nowhere, where living conditions are harsh. It's the middle of the long winter, and the son of the protagonist Ignat drunkenly runs a tractor over their neighbour's son. A simple, straigh-forward story follows, including Ignat saving a school kid from an alcoholistic mother in an attempt to fill the void left by the imprisoned son.
You might think that this is depressing stuff, but the tone of the film is very naturalistic and lived-in, true to life. That's the second reason: The Bonfire is sincere. Often it's almost documentary-like. Sure, the story is very sad, but the director avoids melodrama and has a very natural approach to the characters played by actors of the local (amateur?) theatre with great conviction.
The Bonfire deserves its place alongside "bigger" movies, and it and the people it shows us deserve recognition.
